Monday, March 16, 2009

Andrew Cuomo is having full as much fun in the NY AG seat as Eliot Spitzer before him:

... New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo asked AIG to provide details on who's receiving bonuses in its AIG Financial Products subsidiary by 4 EDT p.m. on Monday or face subpoenas:

In Mr. Cuomo's letter to AIG Chief Executive Edward Liddy on Monday, the New York attorney general requested a list of individuals who are to receive payments under the unit's retention plan, as well as details of each individuals job description, information on their performance and copies of any contracts requiring the payments. The attorney general asked that AIG provide the information by 4 p.m. EDT Monday.

"We were disturbed to learn over the weekend of AIG's plans to pay millions of dollars to members of the Financial Products subsidiary through its Financial Products Retention Plan," Mr. Cuomo said. "Financial Products was, of course, the division of AIG that led to its meltdown and the huge infusion of taxpayer funds to save the firm."

Mr. Cuomo said he's looking into whether any of the individuals receiving payments were involved in conduct that led to the insurer's near collapse; whether the contracts may be unenforceable for fraud or other reasons; and whether the payments may be consider fraudulent conveyances under state law.

"Covering up the details of these payments breeds further cynicism and distrust in our already shaken financial system," he said.

About Me

I'm a freelance writer and media consultant with a lasting interest in how democracy works, how it malfunctions and self-corrects. Since fall 2013 I've focused increasingly on the unfolding drama of Affordable Care Act implementation and health reform more generally.
I have a Ph.D. in medieval English literature and a propensity to parse the rhetoric and logic of our political leaders as well as that of media pundits and scholars who jump into the national debate. I wrote a dissertation on the remarkably humane and subtle medieval English anchorite Julian of Norwich, a mystic nun whose knack of squaring circles and framing paradoxes reminds me a little of our current president. A sampling of that work (mind the google gaps) is here: http://bit.ly/OzwsrR